ShoeGuy: Keep It Simple

ShoeGuy's Top 10 Best Practices for Building Running Shoes

It shouldn't be that difficult, but apparently it is. You make a mistake, you learn from it, and then you don’t do it again. Sounds simple, I know, but when it comes to building running shoes, evidently it’s not.

Yep, here I go again, picking on the running shoe companies. It’s not that I’m naturally unmerciful, it’s just that there’s so much material here to work with. And trust me, they can handle it.

These shoe builders were, for years, notorious for cloistering inside a plush conference room, plying themselves with gallons of strong coffee and piles of sweet rolls, on a mission to figure out how to replace old shoes with new shoes. If you’ve bought more than one pair of running shoes in the last twenty years, you know how they’ve fared.

Part of the problem has been the quick spin of models, that is, replacing good shoes too quickly. But finally after years of voracious whining by limping runners, the shoe builders are now extending the life span of some popular trainers from the standard six or 12 months to 18 or 24 months, and sometimes beyond.

With all this extra time on their hands, the shoe builders can now put more effort into really managing the inevitable, albeit now somewhat slower, evolution of running shoes. They can actually take the time to track what works or doesn’t work, and maybe, just maybe, avoid repeating some of the dumber mistakes. So what if the coffee and sweet roll tab goes up, big deal.

The notion of compiling a history of "Best Practices" is nothing new. Successful businesses have been doing it for years. No doubt even some of these nefarious shoe companies. If not, however, you likely won’t be surprised to know that ShoeGuy stands ready to help.

Yes, as a special service to the hard-working, dedicated, and passionate shoe builders of the world, ShoeGuy presents his official Top Ten Best Practices list, developed after years of secret research by a bunch of guys wearing lab coats and carrying clipboards. No sweet rolls or coffee for this bunch, just sound academic research. Okay, not really.

This list actually emerged over the last couple of decades in a really nifty running shoe testing center: the shoe department of a specialty running store. It’s here that the carbon rubber meets the road, where the massive shoe industry delivers to its treasured "end-use" consumer. After all, if you want to learn how to build a better mousetrap, you’ve got to spend some time with the mice.

So, for what it’s worth, here are ShoeGuy’s top ten best practices for building running shoes.

1 Don’t replace a good shoe unless you can make it better. I know, you’re obsessed with fixing "what ain’t broke," but if the fix isn’t better than the "ain’t-broke," it’s not a fix.

2 Midsole cushioning technologies are okay as long as they don’t screw up a good shoe. Sometimes inserting all those foreign objects inside a shoe, and then building little windows to show them off, results in shoes that squeak, break down in weird ways, or, feel lumpy underfoot.

3 Runners don’t have wide heels. Okay, there are some flabby ones out there maybe, but a snug fitting heel counter seems to almost always work better than a sloppy one.

4 If a shoe is supposed to sell for $150, it needs to feel like $150. Those pricey "statement" trainers need to have a little magic at first try on or the deal’s not done. I own a Toyota, but if I went into a Mercedes Benz showroom and climbed inside one of those $80,000 European road cars, it sure as hell had better feel good.

5 Eyelets work. All those cumbersome plastic straps and hard-to-lace ghilly loops are fine if they don’t get in the way, add weight, or interfere with fit. But we know eyelets always work because we keep a leather punch handy and make our own as needed.

6 Overlays on the upper should support the foot, not irritate it. It’s amazing how many new shoes still appear with heavy, thick, stiff straps wrapping directly around the first metatarsal head. Ouch.

7 Shoes should be flexible where the foot bends. (Hint: Not under the arch.)

8 Colors don’t matter. Much. As long as they aren’t too boring or too ridiculously garish, they’ll do. Also, they don’t need to be changed every three weeks, and they really don’t need to match your apparel line.

9 Widths are good only if they really are widths. When a wide fits the same as a medium, it’s confusing. Yes, it’s happened.

And finally, Best Practice #10, and though this list is in no particular order, this one is probably numero uno:

10 If you replace a very functional shoe that has a very strong following, but has been on the market for so long that you just can’t stand it anymore, don’t change what made it successful. The new one needs to fit, feel and ride as close to the oldie as possible. If not, hire a bodyguard.

Okay, shoe builders, there you have it. Feel free to clip this column and nail it to the wall in that fancy conference room where you meet to solve the world’s running shoe problems. No charge for the advice, though I will take a couple of those sweet rolls.